Scottish Executive

Dentistry

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) mean and (b) median net earnings are for general dental practitioners in each NHS board area and what proportions of these earnings are attributable to (i) NHS treatment, (ii) private treatment and (iii) other sources.

Mr Tom McCabe: The net earnings of general dental practitioners are not collected.

Dentistry

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are working as temporarily registered overseas dentists, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Tom McCabe: This information is not collected centrally.

Dentistry

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26819 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 1 July 2002, how many dental practices have received "Golden Hello" payments, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Tom McCabe: Question S1W-26819 of 1 July 2002, referred to the grants of up to £10,000 which are available as part of the "Golden Hello" package to dentists establishing new vocational training practices and offering a training place. The information requested is in the following table:

  

 NHS Board Area
 Number 
  of Practices Receiving Grant


 Forth Valley
 1


 Lothian
 2


 Greater Glasgow
 2


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1

Housing

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 18,000 homes referred to in A Partnership for a Better Scotland will be provided in (a) 2003-04, (b) 2004-05 and (c) 2005-06 and how many will be (i) new and (ii) improved homes.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Communities Scotland plan to approve 6,000 units in 2003-04, 5,350 in 2004-05 and 6,650 in 2005-06. In 2003-04, Communities Scotland plan to approve 5,040 new and 960 improved homes. Specific programme details for 2004-05 and 2005-06 have yet to be developed.

Housing

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland core development programme has been in each year from 2000-01 to 2003-04, including through the funding of Housing Association Grant, GRO-grant, Rural Home Ownership Grant, Improvement and Repair Grant and all other funding mechanisms.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Scottish Homes/Communities Scotland's core development programme (capital and revenue) in each year from 2000-01 to 2003-04 is as follows:

  

 Year
 £ 
  Million


 2000-01
 215.8


 2001-02
 223.9


 2002-03
 217.5


 2003-04*
 229.5



  Note:

  *Planned

Housing

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the houses in table 6 of Communities Scotland Investment Programme 2003-04 are (a) new and (b) improved homes.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Communities Scotland plan to approve 5,040 new and 960 improved homes in 2003-04.

Justice

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will report on its consultation on the establishment of a child witness support service.

Hugh Henry: The consultation produced a range of views on how best to take forward proposals for a child witness service. We are currently considering these and will make an announcement in due course.

Justice

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many responses it received to its consultation on the establishment of a child witness support service and how many responses supported the establishment of such a service.

Hugh Henry: A total of 75 responses were received on the package of proposals to reform the way child witnesses are dealt with in the criminal justice system and children's hearings court proceedings. Of those, 53 specifically responded to the section relating to the establishment of a child witness support service. All 53 supported the proposal in principle, but there was no consensus on how such a service should be set up.

Public Appointments

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on whether a Public Appointments Committee should be established and on when an appropriate time would be for the Parliament to establish such a committee.

Mr Andy Kerr: This is entirely a matter for the Parliament.

Public Private Partnership

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has issued to local authorities whose public private partnership financial advisors may also be advising commercial bidders for such projects.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Treasury Taskforce Technical Note No. 3, How to Appoint and Manage Advisers ,  provides guidance to assist public bodies to procure the right advisory support at the right time. The guidance includes asking advisors to respond in writing to a series of questions put by the public body prior to appointment. One of these questions asks the advisors to declare "details of any actual or potential conflicts of interest or investigation of any sort by the authority".

  The note, a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 20723), is advisory providing guidance on good practice. However, it is expected that all public bodies follow it. It is for the public body to consider appropriate action in any instances where actual or potential conflicts are identified.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will review the strategy for social inclusion partnership (SIP) areas and whether this review will be published.

Ms Margaret Curran: Our plans to review the strategy for SIPs were set out in the Community Regeneration Statement last year and re-affirmed in the Partnership Agreement earlier this year. We intend to integrate SIPs with Community Planning Partnerships (CPP) and recently issued guidance to both SIPs and CPPs explaining the process.

  An electronic copy of the guidance is available on the Communities Scotland website at:

  http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/communities/upload/tplt_what_we_do_.asp?page=2100002304.

Standards in Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what further progress on developing Gaelic-medium education can be promoted under provisions of the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000.

Peter Peacock: The Standards in Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000 requires education authorities to plan for and secure improvement in school education. It places specific requirements on authorities to address Gaelic-medium education in their annual statements of improvement objectives and annual progress reports. Many authorities have used the improvement framework established by the 2000 act to embed their policies around Gaelic-medium education fully into their wider strategy for school education.

  However, I feel that there is scope for many education authorities to improve further their planning of Gaelic-medium education. We are therefore taking action in three areas:

  education authorities will be issued with a clear reminder of their duty to address Gaelic-medium education in their annual statement of improvement objectives and annual progress reports, and our expectation that they will do so.

  local authorities will be asked to establish thresholds against which they will assess parental demand for Gaelic-medium within their area.

  Bòrd na Gàidhlig (the Gaelic language development agency) and the Management Review Group of local authorities will be invited to establish a joint sub-group to review the performance measurement against which Gaelic-medium education development is measured.

  I am minded to invite Bòrd na Gàidhlig to offer advice to local education authorities on the development of Gaelic-medium policies and to give them a role in advising the Executive on the sufficiency of such policies if that would be seen as helpful and plan to consult on this issue as part of the consultation process around the proposed Gaelic Language Bill.

  I take the advancement of Gaelic-medium education very seriously. I will not hesitate to use their power to issue statutory guidance under the terms of the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000 if the further development of education authority improvement plans in relation to Gaelic-medium demonstrates that is needed.

Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Scotland) Regulations 1984

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive under what circumstances the flying of a national flag would breach any of the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (Scotland) Regulations 1984.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Those regulations (as amended) provide for the control of the display of advertisements in Scotland. The regulations specify the types of advertisement that are exempt from control, those that may be displayed with "deemed consent" and those which require to be the subject of applications for express consent to display advertisements, within the interpretation of "advertisement" given in the regulations. It would be a breach of advertisement control to fly any flag falling within that definition where any necessary consent has not been obtained.